The Bluest Eye: Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

The fact that the Breedloves stay in the storefront because they believe they are ugly demonstrates the debilitating effect of an internalized sense of ugliness on the novel's characters. In The Bluest Eye, ugliness and beauty go beyond one's physical appearance. Ugliness is defined (and self-defined) through one's race, socioeconomic class, educational background, and actions, and the characters are inundated with images of white beauty in popular culture. Likewise, ugliness can be derived by association, as shown by the Breedlove family's relationship with Cholly.

The coldness of the house can be read both literally and figuratively. The house is literally cold because of the Breedlove's economic challenges, but figuratively it is cold because there is no love among the family members. Mrs. Breedlove first chooses a passive method to threaten Cholly—banging dishes together in the kitchen—which demonstrates the oppression of black women in the novel—she can't address him directly. The fact that Pecola expects a fight shows how common violence is in her home.

Cholly's refusal to help his wife shows his lack of responsibility for his family. This indifference toward his family is further demonstrated as Mrs. Breedlove accuses him of not providing. Mrs. Breedlove accusation that she alone keeps the family alive is both angry and gives her a sense of superiority—she seems to both want Cholly to help and to thrive on the fact that she must bear this burden alone. When Cholly threatens to "split her open" and Mrs. Breed threatens to harm him if she sneezes even once because of the cold, it shows the violent nature of the relationship, and foreshadows the events to follow.

Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove's relationship shows the damaging effects of racism, sexism, and violence in the characters' lives. As a black woman, Mrs. Breedlove searches desperately for a sense of self-worth and meaning for her life. It is only through her relationship with Cholly—a man—that she gains these things. Their fights break up the tedium of her life and spark her imagination, but this way of creating meaning for her life is at the expense of her physical and emotional wellbeing. Cholly's immorality allows her to feel superior and self-righteous, and those are the feeling on which she props herself up, on which she survives. Likewise, Cholly stays with Mrs. Breedlove because he needs someone to unload the hatred instilled in him as a boy by two racist men.

The children's different ways of responding to the violence demonstrate different realities individuals face based on genders. Samuel, a young boy, actively engages with his parents while they argue, and escapes the situation by running away. Pecola, however, as a young girl, remains passive and turns inward. These coping methods reflect the realities of the men and woman in The Bluest Eye.

Talking to herself and quietly begging her mother not to start the fight demonstrates Pecola's powerlessness, both as a child and as a girl. Sammy, to the contrary, jumps in and aids his mother. Samuel begging his mother to kill his father reveals his hatred for Cholly, but his request mirrors his father's violence toward the family. Mrs. Breedlove tells him to shut up, and tells him to go get coal, a gesture that demonstrates her authority over him, and again links him to Cholly, who she originally asked to get the coal. Sammy is being nurtured to have the same sort of hate that Cholly feels—the cycle is continuing.

For Pecola, attaining blue eyes means two things: that people will see her as beautiful, and that the way she sees the world with change, so that she will no longer have to witness the violence and hatred in her home. Beauty to the characters of The Bluest Beauty means empowerment, and Pecola believes that if she can attain blue eyes, a signifier of whiteness and beauty, she will have the power to escape her horrible situation. Holding on to this unreachable standard of beauty, however, means that Pecola remains unable to realize her worth and own beauty, inner or outer.

Pecola's self-perceived ugliness allows her to identify with the cracked sidewalk and the dandelions, which are things considered ugly by others. Pecola does not see the dandelions as ugly, which introduces the idea that beauty might be a matter of one's perception, not something inherent in the object being looked at. Unfortunately, Pecola's obsession with external beauty standards keeps her from realizing this about herself. The "yellow heads" of the dandelions also connect symbolically to the blond haired girls, who represent the white beauty standard, and explains Pecola's confusion as to why the black women throw them away.

Pecola's feeling that Mr. Yacobowsky sees right through her demonstrates both the way whites perceive blacks as worthless, and also Pecola's sense that she is not even worth being looked at. The distinction between Pecola's external appearance and her inward emotional reality suggests that even though Mr. Yacobowski sees her only as a worthless black girl, there is a reality beneath her black skin that makes her human, that makes her worth acknowledgment.

Pecola's inability to communicate with Mr. Yacobowski shows the divide between her as a black girl and him as a white man. Likewise, Mr. Yacobowski's inability to see from Pecola's perspective metaphorically shows the disparity between the way he sees the world as a white immigrant man, and how she sees it as a black girl. By not wanting to touch her hand, Mr. Yacobowski's racism shows glaringly. The way he grazes her hand with his fingernail subtly suggests the violent nature of racism, as other references to fingernails in the novel involve overt violence, for example, Claudia scratching Rosemary's white face.

The change in Pecola's perception after her experience in the store shows the way in which racism has a powerful effect on the way one perceives oneself and the world. Beauty may be a matter of perception, but it understandably doesn't feel that way to Pecola as the interaction with Yacobowski makes her feel inherently and objectively ugly. While the shame makes her feel invisible, the anger gives her a sense of power, but that power is short-lived because it is based not on a sense of worth but her lack of worth. As soon she remembers how Yacobowski's blue eyes—the symbols of his being better than her—saw right through her, her anger turns back to shame. The Mary Jane candies then become a kind of salve to this wound—they are sweet and allow Pecola to not only feel connected to but actually consume the white culture that makes her feel inferior. Yet at the same time they are temporary, and therefore addictive, and actually reinforce her sense of inferiority. They provide Pecola a strength that is not otherwise inside her, that is not her own, and so she is dependent on white culture to soothe the pain that it instills in her—a vicious cycle.

The prostitutes, who are considered ugly and abhorrent by the community, welcome Pecola into their home without judgment. They have compassion because they have felt a sense of ugliness in their own lives. Pecola's naive view of their clients as "boyfriends" shows her innocence regarding love and sex. Even though their work and living situation is taboo, the prostitutes share a sense of home and family.

For these women, exploiting their sexuality becomes the only way they are able to gain some sense of power over men. This decision, however, comes at a great expense. Not only did Miss Marie leave the love of her life to gain this power, but the women are not respected in the community. Likewise, even though they hate men, their sense of self is still dependent on their relation to men.

Miss Marie's actions after Pecola brings up her children shows that, despite her tough exterior, she is sensitive toward issues of family. Pecola's naiveté is further depicted as she wonders what love feels like. Using the only model she has, her own family, she decides that love must be related to sex, violence, and lack of interaction.